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Monthly Archives: August 2012

I was debating if I should post on this subject or not and given what an ordeal it has turned out to be I thought it worthy to post.

Yesterday I had to have a cortisone injection into my ankle. I’m actually progressing reasonably well from ankle surgery however I’m still in a fair bit of pain. My surgeon tells me that he would have expected me to be more progressed than I am but given my history it’s not a total surprise.

Yesterday was my third injection, the previous one was incredibly painful and yesterday I was hoping for the best and prepared for the worst. When my surgeon penned the request form he told me after this I wouldn’t like him any more. Well at the time he was right, sadly I know that it must happen, but what an ordeal to go through.

They were running really late yesterday which didn’t help, I had to wait 20 minutes which is unusual and there was a 30 minute wait between the initial ultrasound and the injection. In the past I’ve had some really bad anxiety problems and while I’m a lot better at managing them these days I was tense.

The injection probably couldn’t have gone much worse, the pain as the needle broke the skin and pushed deep into my ankle joint put me into shock. I’m normally fairly good with needles but I actually moved my foot it was that bad. Obviously this was a bad thing to do and I was told as much not to move it. I full well knew this of course but if I ever do explain where they injected you’ll understand why I reacted in the way I did.

I left the medical rooms with a bad limp, my ankle was incredibly sore and spent the night at home with my foot up and resting.

Not in any worse discomfort than usual today but on advise will be largely off my feet for today and tomorrow.

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I’m growing just a little sick of stereotypes and pigeonholing in society.

I find it interesting how in many cases we’re such a shallow society and go by looks and assumptions.

In the Adelaide Sunday Mail (weekly main paper) there is a lift out called “Body + Soul” and in there they have a section about a good stretching program to do. It’s run by a guy who has a fitness studio in Sydney.

There’s a note in the column if you’d like to be a model please go to this web site.

I thought what the hell, lets make an inquiry and see what happens.

I probably shouldn’t be surprised but I was to the reply (I had already detailed my background and situation”

The reply I got read something like this “we pride ourselves on only using real woman who are supper fit and are inspirational to our readers”

Now I’ve lost the best part of 30kg but based on the BMI I’m still morbidly obese. So I know from a distance people sterotype me as “fat guy” and on the rare occasion that I eat fast food or buy chocolate people seem to think that’s just me.

Well it isn’t, my fridge is stocked with fruit and vegetables, I make a point of holding pre-made salads and keeping the actually healthy muesli bars at arms reach.

Now I am letting my food intake slip a little bit, but when I look at what I eat on a regular bases it’s an almost complete overall. Gone is the bacon and cheese sandwich for breakfast, the chocolate muffin or donut for morning tea and the burger special for lunch.

I used to always eat takeaway for dinner and never ate at home. Now takeway dinners would be one maybe two meals a week.

One of the biggest challenges I face is any new medical person I come across feels compelled to tell me “oh has someone spoken to you about your weight” it’s at this point my now lower blood pressure raises and a vein in my forehead does the best job of not exploding occurs.

What people need to realise is yes I am still fat and have been for most of my adult life. I’ve decided that’s not the life I want to lead and I’m making the hard decisions to rectify that.

I didn’t become obese in 12 months and it will take me a couple of years to reverse that.

This really is something I’m passionate about and it’s why I think I’ve managed to motivate quite a few people along the way.

Something else that I’ve committed to, is not to undergo any type of obesity surgery. The journey to this point in my life was ultimately of my own making and the recovery from that also will be of my own making.

I really wish society would wake up to itself and look beyond skin deep.

My experiences over the past few months have shown me more than ever it’s the individual and their approach and personality that makes all the difference.

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I had someone at work ask me a few weeks ago what my secret was when it came to loosing weight (I’ve dropped around 26kg) and he said “don’t tell me it’s diet and exercise”

There are no secrets, it is diet and exercise.

I’m mentally and physically preparing myself to train with Emma tomorrow morning. Ever since I first engaged Emma as one of my personal trainers I told her to push me and push me hard, we actually work to the point of exhaustion. Something which when you first do can be a bit scarey.

It’s my own 60 minute version of boot-camp, there is a bit of shouting that goes on from both parties as we each test and push the boundaries.

When you stress your body like this, you do get one amazing adrenaline rush but you really have to carefully manage your foot and fluid intake before, during and after.

I’ve stuffed that up a few times and the resulting nausea and ill feeling isn’t worth getting it wrong.

While on the outside this might appear borderline crazy, it really is great to push the body physically and mentally. I’ve had a couple of set backs in the past week, my ability to partake in the 6km walk of the City Bay Fun Run really is unknown at this stage.

My Physio and PT’s say I’m mentally and fitness wise there, but the ankle and knee are of a concern. I’m not going to take any substational risks with my body however we are four weeks out and a lot can happen in that time.

At this stage I’m cleared to continue training and that’s exactly what I’m going to do. Due to some knee strapping I’ve had to skip any pool based activity this week and will review that with my Physio on Tuesday.

Hopefully on Tuesday we can finally fit me with a suitable knee brace so I can avoid strapping the knee.

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On Saturday when I trained with Emma it was clear to me that the t-shirts I wear while exercising are far too big.

Had to decided what to replace it with. With the Adelaide City-Bay Fun-Run coming what better way to self motivate than to buy one of their Asic tops. Bought the red one so it would stand out.

Happy to say the biggest size available XXL fits me quite well.

Today to my surprise I got my race number, turns out I’m the second entrant in my category. There is something quite satisfying knowing out of so many people I was so early to register. The organizers hope to have around 40,000 people attend, I’m confident I was within the first 1,000 to register.

Today I visited my Physio and functionally my ankle is the best she’s seen it (I started consulting this Physio as my injury began) so that really is good news.

I have some other issues to work through and I’m seeing my surgeon on Monday and hopefully some additional imaging can be done to clarify my situation.

I’m working the ankle pretty hard with exercise, but most of it is non weight bearing and what is done weight bearing is done under supervision.

Only concern is my left knee is starting to get sore again. I’m going to give it a week then I’m going to have to re- evaluate if I buy a brace for the knee as well.

Talking with my Physio today I may need to re-visit my ankle brace as well as for the 6km walk I may need something different.

Physio and PTs are supportive of my ability to complete the course we just need to be that bit careful.

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Yesterday afternoon saw me continue my endurance training with Emma. We’re building up the City-Bay Fun Run which is around 41 days away.

While my past focus has been on strength training, yesterday we turned up the intensity when it came to endurance training.

Now I’ll be the first to admit that I do not enjoy endurance training, it’s bloody hard work. That said, my abilities have improved remarkably in such a short time.

With anything though you only get out what you put in.

Last week was my first time I trained 6 days straight. This week will be another 6 days straight. Friday is my rest day and it’s critical.

I’ve got a new pair of fins I’m about to use when I lap swim for the first time this afternoon and I was so keen to try them on Friday. However in all that I’ve done, I’ve learnt to listen to my body and quite frankly as keen as I was on Friday the body sad “rest”

Good thing I listened to as Emma pushed me harder again yesterday and I responded. Possibly the best training session we’ve done. It still amazes me what she asks of me, but even more importantly what I can deliver.

I’ve asked her to push me and then push some more. She knows at the time I’ll hate her, but post session reflection gets me every time. Session after session we see improvement. In the words of “Big Kev – I’m excited”

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It’s all very well having a goal, but if your not focused on what your doing right now you won’t get there.

This week I’m binging on exercise, I was meant to have two recovery days, but owing to circumstances, I’ve cut this to one.

I have no endurance currently which is proving to be a real problem at work, plus I’m having all sorts of sleep issues.

Best way to deal with this is push myself so I’m naturally tired and fall asleep!

With my training program there are currently two, one hour PT sessions a week. My entire mind and body has to be focused when I train as if I don’t it can be dangerous.

I’m swimming in deep water and now boxing with bruit force. I’ve managed to stuff up quite a few rounds of boxing because my focus was off. It takes me a split second to get distracted and then I need to re-focus.

When you land punches like I do, you need to be just a bit careful. When I trained with Emma on the weekend I tasked her to be a stickler for technique.

She was, I hated her for it but it was needed. They say practice makes perfect. If you practice the wrong thing it ain’t going to be perfect. That said ones needs to learn from their mistakes, but one has to be willing and able to make and accept mistakes when they are made.